Jealous
by Laketh Lon
Summary: Some thoughts of Ino regarding a certain someone, herself and her team... Followed by a dialogue between a fellow Konoha kunoichi and clan heiress... Archived from circa 2011.


_Author's Note: Wow! Review some archive emails of mine and I found this. Made during circa 2011. Wow! A five-year treasure. I was like 21 year-old at that time. Yeah, so you kinda know what age I am now. Some notes have been omitted here but basically the thought is still the same._

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 _Some thoughts of Ino regarding a certain someone, herself and her team... Followed by a dialogue between a fellow Konoha kunoichi and clan heiress… By the way, this is to the One who taught me to be jealous and how to respond to jealousy properly. Thank You so much for being so faithful, hopeful and loving._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" - of anything involved within the series. Nevertheless this story is penned by _._

 _Acknowledgement: To the readers all around the world, wow. Wow... Thank you, __ _ **_**_ _and __ _ **_**_ _,_ _for the reviews._ _Lord, to be you all the glory. Live the best life all of us. May you take part on the story God is really doing not just in the world but in your own personal life for others. Happy victorious 2nd Half 2011! Wohoo!_

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 **Jealous**

I saw you with her, and for the very first time I felt of jealous for you… even stronger than I had jealousy over Sakura, over Sasuke, over any friend that I ever had. When I saw you with her, I closed my eyes and turned around. Wanting more to forget what I felt more than what I saw. I was thirteen back then.

You grew. I grew. We all have grown up. All of us knew that our growth was more than just the physical - we have grown in every aspect… together. We have grown and gotten stronger as a team. Nonetheless, there was one growth I cannot give to you and I saw someone giving it to you. When I saw her giving it to you, I had wished it was me giving those to you. I saw you how different you respond to her words. If it was me who would give those words to you, will you respond the way you had respond to her? Or will you respond the way you always had responded to me? Or maybe you will respond ever more differently? Nonetheless, I stopped myself from the "woulds", and start cheering and supporting for your growth. For the first time, I trusted someone to take care of you on ways I knew I cannot. I was fifteen at that time.

I saw you hurt and hopeful at the same time. At that moment, I knew you were not just trying to run away from being a child. You were running into becoming a man - a man our sensei will be very proud of. You were always the silent leader among the three of us. Though you have a genius mind, you were not naïve to your heart. You might not know it, but your heart was smarter than your mind. And both of us thank you for believing in us. Your sincere belief in us enabled both of us to become leaders of our own right. Together, the three of us, we could do what we three individually could not. At this time, I realized, that no matter what happened to both of you, I will always accept, believe and care for you. You two were my best friends. Yes… Best friends. We were sixteen by that time.

You wanted him to be killed. I could not believe it. I do not want to take part of it. Not because that I like him, but he, in his own way, became our friend. Yes, he might have lost in him - the faith, the hope, the love. Nonetheless, as his friends, we cannot lose those for him. You have seen my struggle. And I saw you respond the same way I thought was an illusion when we were ten - the time I told you that I like him. My heart skipped a beat. I closed my eyes and turned around. Wanting more to forget what I felt more than what I remembered. You were Nara Shikamaru. I was Yamanaka Ino. Together with Akimichi Chouji, we were Team 10, best friends.

" _Ino-san, you like Shikamaru-san, don't you?" Hinata shyly asked._

 _I feigned ignorance. "Of course, I like him, Hinata. He is my friend." I smiled cockily at her._

 _Hinata sighed."Denial will get you nowhere, Ino-san. He cannot know what you really feel if you yourself will not accept what is really in your heart." She drooped down her head, trying to hide the blush that crept from her face._

 _I smiled. "So Naruto finally responded to you, ne, Hinata?" I teased the Heiress._

" _A-ano, Ino-chan, - "_

" _I cannot, Hinata. It is because when I accept it, I know myself I will not stop until I have all of him." I felt blood rushed up to my cheeks. "I want him to make the first move until then, we are the best of friends."_

" _Nani?" The Hyuuga Heiress asked._

" _I am not waiting for a boyfriend." I smirked. This maybe a great news in the whole "Ninja World". Headline: "Flirt" Ino wanted no boyfriend. Nonetheless, I stopped thinking what others would think of me, and start caring for the people I truly love and will love. "I am preparing myself for a husband. I am preparing myself to build a strong and great marriage and family. And I know, it will take not only his strength but also mine. Not just my heart but also his - ours together, as one."_

 _Hyuuga's eyes sparkled. "Arigato gozaimasu, Ino-chan."_

 _Now, it was my turned to ask. "Nani?"_

" _For a time, I always wanted to be strong… for a certain someone to know what I felt for him." Hinata's cheeks turned redder than before. "Now that certain someone knew what I felt, I myself have gone a reason to be stronger... Arigato," Hinata clasped my hands. "For showing me that I still have my family to love, not just the ones that I have but the people that will come from those family."_

 _I blinked my eyes. And for the first time, I saw Hinata, not just my friend but as the Hyuuga Heiress. I wanted to wacked my head. Such familiarity with her almost made me forget that she was the first daughter of the head of the most powerful clan in Konoha. "Dooitashimashite."_

 _Then she wickedly grinned as she held my hands tighter, an expression she would only share to those closest to her, "Then, give your best from now on, Mrs. Nara."_

 _This time, it was I who sighed and twitched my left eyebrow. I thought I was the teaser here. "I thought you were supposed to be the shy one here." I frowned and let go of my hands from her hold._

 _Hinata laughed. And her laughed made me laugh also. I can never get angry with this woman. "Ino-chan, with a friend like you, shyness will be replaced by teasing."_

" _Ah, so that is the confidence I was teaching you about, eh, Hyuuga?" I could not understand if what she said was a complement or not._

" _One kind of it." We both looked at the sky above us - stars sparkling. "One of it is that you do not need a guy for you to blossom the beauty that you have in you."_

" _Arigato, Hinata-san." I smiled. "Those words meant a lot."_

Now I understand. Why every time I would felt the jealousy, I closed my eyes and turned around. Why every time I felt my longing for you, I closed my eyes and turned around. It was not you that I wanted to shut. It was the woman I saw myself with you that I wanted to forget. It was not because I do not want to like you. It was because I want to like you not because of what you only give to me. I closed my eyes and turned around because I also want to give you something from me - something which I only can give when I find who I really am - not just a woman I think when I am with you.

And for this, I cannot help but to say these words to you, "Arigato gozaimasu Shikamaru-chan." _My teammate, my best friend, my leader._ I was nineteen at this time.

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 _Author's Note: Wooo! This fic was so helpful. Some issues were settled while writing this. Haha… Thanks for reading, guys. Hope it was hopeful. And yeah, leave your comments, suggestions, and reviews. You are much appreciated._

 _If ever you get to review, I leave you with a question. "Why are you jealous?"_

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 _So basically that was my 21-year old self. The optimism – where art thou?_


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